I am wrapping up a Sunday profile on Long Beach City Auditor Laura Doud, who plans to run for a second term in 2010. Doud, as you may recall, pulled off an upset in 2006 by beating 14-year incumbent Gary Burroughs.
Also, if that's not enough on the Auditor's Office, click here to read a recent profile I did on Doud's No. 2, Assistant City Auditor James Johnson, who is running for City Council in the 7th District.
Here's a bit of the profile:
Not everyone is anxious to hear from City Auditor Laura Doud.
"I don't think I am the most popular person at City Hall," she says. "It's not always easy. I think departments want to think they are operating as efficiently as possible and don't necessarily like someone looking over their shoulder."
Doud, 42, was elected three years ago to look over the shoulders of those running the county's second-largest city. While no one welcomes an audit, Doud says that her charge to find savings is appreciated -- and sometimes requested -- in an era where city spending is tighter than violin strings.
"Our goal is not to fault, criticize and embarrass," Doud says. "Our goal is to find money for the city."
